theAirDB

Questions and answers

Will this H1N1 flu reappear next fall?

Million dollar question! Flu viruses constantly mutate. Right now it lacks an amino acid sequence that confers lethality. Will it acquire that amino acid by next fall? I don’t know and if anyone one tells you they know then you know a fool.

Is it a good idea to take the flu shot they are developing?

Yes. However, it will probably not do much as it may be unable to generate an immune response in those with high 25(OH)D levels. Two Russian studies, the only such studies in the world, suggest higher vitamin D levels prevent the immune response flu shots attempt to generate. Dr. Scott Dowell, at the CDC, has known about these two studies for at least five years.
In 1977, Russian scientists inoculated 834 non-immune males with live attenuated influenza virus in St Petersburg (62 N) and Krasnodar (45 N), Russia during different seasons of the year, comparing them to 414 vehicle placebo controls. In St Petersburg, they found that the attenuated virus was about eight times more likely to cause physical evidence of infection (fever) in the winter than the summer (6.7% vs. 0.8%). In Krasnodar, 8% of inoculated subjects developed a fever from the virus in January, but only 0.1% did so in May.
Different Russian scientists found that fever after inoculation with attenuated virus was twice as likely in February (10.7%) as in June (5%), compared to vehicle placebo controls. They also confirmed that sero-conversion varied by season, with the lowest rate of antibody formation in summer. When they attempted to recover the virus 4872 h after inoculation, they found subjects were more likely to shed the virus in December (40%) than in September (16%), and the quantity of virus shed was significantly lower in summer than winter.
These two studies suggest higher Vitamin D levels may prevent a vaccine from causing an immune response, the whole idea of a vaccine.

What about Guillain-Barré Syndrome if I take the flu shot?

Influenza or influenza like illness usually precedes the autoimmune process of Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Thus, a recent study found a seven-fold risk for those who contracted the flu but a slightly decreased risk for those getting a modern vaccine.
This appears to be much different than the 1976-77 swine flu experience, the last time a swine flu virus caused this type of consternation. Then, the vaccine was associated with a seven-fold risk of Guillain-Barré Syndrome, but the feared pandemic never materialized. That is, as Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a complication of the flu and the flu failed to materialize that year, we will never know what the risk of Guillain-Barré Syndrome would have been in 1978 in those who got the flu but no flu shot.
As Guillain-Barré Syndrome is an autoimmune process, those on 5,000 IU per day should not have to fear it.

There are studies that suggest that Vitamin D can prevent flu. What is your take on it?

A randomized placebo controlled trial showed vitamin D prevents colds and flu. However, when these same authors attempted to reproduce their findings by giving 2,000 IU/day for four months, they found no protective effect of Vitamin D.
Despite these studies, the scientists at CDC and WHO are thinking only in terms of a vaccine or TamiFlu. The idea of strengthening the innate immune system with Vitamin D is simply not on their radar. Many of these scientists have financial connections to the influenza industry. However, It is not a conspiracy. When I was young, I thought most things were conspiracies. Now that I am older, I know it is not a conspiracy, only incompetence.
If this virus mutates this summer and acquires more lethality and maintains its transmissibility, we may experience another 1918 pandemic. If so, I plan to be fully armed, with both Vitamin D and the best modern conventional medicine has to offer.

QA provided by John Cannell, President Vitamin D Council (http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/)